Garage door operating mechanism



Oct. 13, 1931. H. N. BOVEE 1,826,984

GARAGE DOOR OPERATING MECHANISM Filed Feb. 14. 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 061. 13, 1931. H, N, BOVEE 1,826,984

GARAGE DOOR OPERATING MECHANISM Filed Feb. 14, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheat 2 SHAW/Wm H M50116 Patented Oct. 13, 1931 UNIT ED A s ATLEs PATENT OFFWE HIRAM n. BOVEE, OFINTERNATIONAL FALLS, MINNESOTA, ASSIGNOR, BY DIRECT AND MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, F ONE-FOURTH TO IPATRICK OLSON AND ONE-HALF JOSEPH B; ROONEY, BOTH OF .INTERNATIONAL FALLS, MINNESOTA GARAGE noon OPERATING MECHANISM Application filed February 14, 1930,. Serial n 428,481, I

this sill so that the'parts will be'housed within This invention'relates to door operating l/Vith the above and other objects in view the invention consists in certain, novel details of construction and combinations of parts hereinafter fully described and claimed, it being understood that various modifications mayberesorted to within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention. I

In the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification, V i

Figure 1 is anunderneath view of my improved device in position to maintain the doors closed and shown by dotted lines in posit-ion to swing the doors open,

Figure 2 is an enlarged underneath view of the device with ,the' bottom plate and other parts removed, y 1 A Figure 3 is an enlarged section taken on the line 3-3 of Figural, 7 ,j I

Figure 1 is a fragmentary perspective view showing the fulcrum bars,jsliding pivot and guides of the operating levers,

Figure '5 is an enlargedside elevation of the rope reel located exteriorly of the garage for operating the door-openingdevice, and

Figure 6 is across-sectional view 'on the line 6.6 of Figure 3. e p 'Referr ng now to the drawings in which like charactersjofreference designate'simir lar parts n the Various views, 10 deslgnates the roof, 11 the side walls, and 12 the outwardly opening hinged doors of a garage.

'As is usual ingarage construction-there is ahorlzontalsill 13 forming thetop of the door frame and I preferably attachmy im-' 1 proved door opening and closing devlce to the garage and protected from the weather.

' In carrylng out the invention I provide a.

bottom plate 14 which is bolted asshown m at 15 to 'thebottom face of the $11113. The '55 7 plate is preferably square in outline and is provided as best shown in Figure 3 with a longitudinal slot 16, the purpose of'which will presently appear. Atop plate 17 is disposed parallel with the bottom plate and interposed between the'top and bottom plates are spacing blocks 18. Bolts 19 are passed throughthe plates andspacing blocks to rigidly secure the plates together in spaced relationship as best shown in Figure 3. [The parts just described form a support for the door-operating mechanism about to be described.

A sh'aft20 is journaled in an openingin the top plate 17 and projectsat 'both'ends beyond the opposite faces of the plate. A

ratchet'disc 21 is keyed to thelower end of the shaft, and a rope pulley 22 is mounted looseupon the upper end of the shaft. A

stop'collar 23 holds the pulley on the shaft.

A rope 24 is secured at one end to an eye 25 in the channel of the pulley and forms means for rotating the pulley through half a revolution 'counter clockwise. A helical spring 26 surrounds the shaft 20, one end of this spring being attached to the platefl? and the other end of'the spring being attached to the pulley 22. r This spring returns the pulley to inactive or released position after each rotation thereof by the rope 2 1.

The above mentioned'ratchet disc 21'is providedin the peripheral edge with two pairs of ratchet teeth 27.128.and 29- -30.

normally-held in the tooth 29 by a spring 32 with the .rope pulley. A pawl 33 is pivoted f A pawl 31 is pivoted'on the pulley22 and= on the plate 17 and is held by a'spring" 341' to engage the ratchet tooth on the ratchet disc and prevent rotation of the ratchet disc -in 'a clockwise direction,

The purposeof thev two pairs of" slots is 7 follows. When the rope pulley 22 is turned.

through approximately half a revolution the as I J disc 21 is likewise turned by means of the pawl 31 on the pulley and thereupon the tooth 28 and tooth 27, as best shown in Figure 2, will move counter-clockwise and assume the positions occupied by the teeth 29 and 30. The pawl 33 immediately drops in back of the tooth 27 and prevents retrograde movement of the disc. Upon release of the rope 24 the spring 26 immediatelyoperates to return the rope pulley to its original position. The pawl31 on the rope pulley then drops in back of the tooth 28 and the device is ready to be again operated.

A pitman 35 is pivoted to one side face of the disc 21 as shown at 36. The outer end of the pitman is provided with a pin 37 which slidahly fits in the above mentioned slot 16 formed in the bottom plate 14. By referring now to Figure 4, it will be seen that a pair of guide bars 38 are arranged on the bottom face of the plate on opposite sic es of the slot 16. These guide bars direct the sliding movement of the pin 37 when the pitman is operated by rotation of the disc 21..

By now referring to Figure 1 it will be seen that a pair of levers 39 are pivotally connected together bythe pivot pin 37. A pair of fulcrum bars 40, relatively short in length, are pivoted as shown at 41, to the bottom plate 14 and are pivoted as shown at 42 to the levers 39. Thus, it will be clear that when the pitman moves the pivot pin 37 to one end of the slot the levers will be spread apart as indicated in dotted lines in Figure 1.

A. pair oi links 43 are pivotally connected as shown at 44 to the swinging doors 12 and are pivotally connected as shown at 45 to the ends of the levers 43. When the levers are moved by the pitman to the position shown in dotted lines in Figure 1, the links 43 will be moved by the levers to the position shown in dotted lines in Figure 1 and swing the doors outwardly to full open position. Conversely, when the pitman moves the pivot pin in the opposite direction the levers 39 will be re turned to the position shown in full lines, carrying the links to the position shown in full lines, thereby closing the doors.

In order that the doors may be opened from the exterior of the'garage the rope 24 is trained over sheaves 43' secured to the top sill 13 of the door frame and passed through an opening in the garasqe structure to the exterior of the garage. By now referring to Figure 5 it will be seen. that the rope passes through a pipe 44 which is pivotally connect ed to the garage wall by means of a socket 45 on the wall and. ahall 46 on the pipe. The outer end of the pipe is equipped with a reel 47 upon which the rope 24 is wound by means of a crank 48. The reel is provided with a housing 49 which protects the rope from the weather.

The rope reel is normally held up out of the way of trafiic by means of an extensible hanger 50. The hanger comprises a pipe 51 which is pivoted to the pipe 44 as shown at A rod 53 is pivoted to the garage wall as shown at 54 and enters the pipe 50. A helical spring 55 surrounds the rod which is terminally equipped with a head 56. The spring 55 normally holds the pipe 51 and the rod 52 in telescoped relationship so that the pipe 44 positions the reel upwardly overhead out of traiiic. The dangling rope 57 may be grasped to rock the pipe 44 downward to di pose the reel at the door of the automobile .when it is desired to open the swinging doors of the garage. The spring 55 is placed under tension during the movement of the pipe 51 away from the rod 53 and stores up energy to return the reel to initial position when the operator releases the crank after the doors have been opened.

The operation is as follows: Suppose the doors are closed and it is desired to open them from the outside wlthout alighting from the vehicle. The operator pulls down the reel 47 to within convenient reach and turns the crank 48 thereby winding up the rope 24 on the real and rotating; the rope pulley 22 counter-clockwise through approximately half a revolution. The pawl 31 carries the disc 21 counter-clockwise, thereby moving the pitman 35 which in turn carries the pivot pin 37 of the levers to the outer ends of the guides 38. The levers 39 are thereby spread apart to the position shown in dotted lines in Figure 1. The links 43 during this movement 01 the levers are carried to the position shown in dotted lines in Figure 1 and swing both doors outwardly to open position. The operator now releases the rope reel 47 whereupn the extensible hanger 50 swings the pipe 44 upwardly to dispose the reel out of tratlic. The doors are now open and remain open until the operator again operates the rope reel 47 to close thedoors. It will be observed that as soon as the operator releases the crank 48 the spring 26 of the rope pulley will return the rope pulley to its initial position thereby unwinding the rope from the reel whereupon all of the parts are in position to be operated asfain as above described.

To close the doors the operation of the rope reel is repeated as alcove described. whereby the rope pullev 22 is main rotated counter-clockwise carrying the disc 21 with it to move the pi tman through the opposite half cycle. The pivot pin 37 is thereby returned to its initial position shown by full lines in Figure 1 and the levers 37 and links 43 are moved hv the pivot pin to the position shown by full lines in Figure 1 to swing the doors closed.

It will he noted that a stop 58 on the pulley engages the plate 17 and. limits rotation ofthe pulley by the rope. The stop serves to halt the pulley in position to permit the from the inside a rope 59 is connected to the.

main rope 24: and is trained over a sheave 60 at the side of the door. The end of the rope hangs down from the sheave within convenient reach so that the doors may be opened from the inside by pulling the rope.

It will be here noted that the doors are automatically locked in open or closed position by reason of the pitman 36 being slightly ofi center as shown best in Figure .1. Since the pitman does not quite come to center when there is any strain on the doors tending to close them a backward strain is produced on the ratchet disc 21 and thisis resisted by the pawl 33 back of the tooth 27 so that no movement of the parts can take place. Consequently, the doors are automatically locked in either open or closed posi tion. The crank 28 furthermore can be locked with a padlock by means of a clip 61 on the pipe 44. The clip is provided with a hole 62. The padlock (not shown) may be slipped through the hole and around the crank. Consequently, the doors can be opened only by unlocking the padlock on the outside or by pulling the rope 59 on the inside of the garage.

Having thus described the invention, I claim: I

1. In a door operating mechanism, the combination with a hinged door, of a support, a shaft rotatably mounted thereon, a rope pulley adapted to rotate said shaft counter-clockwise through one half revolution, a spring adapted to return the pulley to inactive position after each actuation, aratchet controlled pitman operated by said shaft, and operating connections between said pitman and said door.

2. In a door operating mechanism, the combination with a hinged door, of a support, a shaft rotatably mounted thereon, a spring controlled rope pulley loose onsaid shaft, a ratchet disc fixed on the shaft, a:

pawl on the pulley alternately engaging in diametrically opposite teeth on the disc for uniting the .disc and pulley for rotation as a unit counter-clockwise through one half revolution, a pitman on said disc, and operating connections between said pitman and said door. p I

3. In combination, hinged doors, a support above the doors, levers pivotally connected together, the pivot pin of said levers being mounted toslide on said support,'fulcrum bars on said support pivotally connected to said levers near said pivot pin and adapted to rock the free ends of the levers 7 towards and away from saiddoors when said pivot pin is moved, links connected to 'the free ends of said levers and to sa d doors I.-.4'..In a ,door operating mechanism, the

iand havingpairs of ratchet teeth disposed at diametrically opposite points in'the pe for." opening and closing said. doors, a rope .ipulley on. said support, and operative-conneetiions. between said rope pulley and said ipi'vot pinfor' moving said pin when said 'pulleyisrotat'ed. I

.combinationof a support, a shaft rotatably .:mounte,d-thereon;,a disefixedto said shaft discfor rotation as a unit with the pulley through one half revolution counter-clockwise, a pawl on said support adapted to engage in another of said teeth and prevent retrograde movement of said disc, a spring adapted to move said pulley clockwise to inactive position after each actuation, and

door opening and closing means operated by c said disc. I

5. In a door operating -mechanism', the combination of a support, a shaft thereon, a rope pulley loose on theshaft, a ratchet disk fixed on the shaft and having two pairs of oppositely disposed ratchet teeth on the edge, a pawl carried by the-support and adapted to engage one of the teeth of one pair of said ratchet teeth for holding said disk against retrograde movement, a pawl carried by said pulley and adapted to engage the other tooth of said pair of ratchet teeth for locking the disk and pulley for rotation as a unit through one-half revolution, a

spring on the shaft for returning the rope pulley to inoperative position after each actuation, a pitman carriedby the disk, and

means for operatively connecting the pitman to a swlnging door.

6. In a door operating mechanism, the

a rope pulley for rotating the shaft counterclockwise through one-half revolution, a rope on said pulley, a reel for winding said rope thereon to actuate said pulley, a pivoted arm shaft through one-half revolution, a spring on the shaft adapted to return the pulleyto inoperative position after each actuation, a ratchet and pawl mechanism on the shaft op erated by the pulley, a pitman controlled by said mechan1s1n,gu1des on the support, and

combination of a support, a shaft thereon,

links for operating said door having their ends pivoted together bya common pivot slidably mounted in said guides, said pitman being connected to said pivot and being disposed slightly off-center in inoperative position whereby to produce a backward strain on the ratchet and pawl mechanism, which strain is resisted by said mechanism to lock said hinged door in open or in closed position.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

HIRAM N. BOVEE. [L. s.] 

